Friday, 28 August 2015

Osprey and Minke among Druridge Delights

27th Aug.Having sighted an Osprey on migration earlier in the month I wasn’t
expecting another today, but that’s’ exactly what Sam and I found as we walked
from Druridge Country Park
to Cresswell.We’d found the Country
Park fairly quiet as far as birds were concerned and we hadn’t expected much on
the water at North Pool, but we were rewarded with a swarm of Common Darters as we walked to and from
the hide.The most I’ve ever seen in one
small area.Amongst them was a Southern Hawker which posed at length
for us and reminded me why I so much appreciate the beauty of odonata. We
examined this one at length which for me made up for the lack of sightings this
year.Butterflies were also showing well
and our list for the day was Green
Veined White, Large White, Small White, Red Admiral, Wall Brown (by far the most
numerous throughout the day), Meadow
Brown and Speckled Wood.

Southern Hawker Dragonfly courtesy of Samuel Hood

It was as we walked south between the dunes and north pool
that both Sam and I called Osprey at
exactly the same moment not long before 11.00am, as the Osprey lifted from the pool harassed by a crow and thus dropping a
fish catch.It showed wonderfully well
giving me my best sighting of Osprey
for some years.Sam has some experience
with Ospreys having volunteered many
days at Threave, Dumfries and he believed the Osprey to be a juvenile as the upper wing was so pale (although we
can’t rule out lighting conditions having an effect) and we weren’t able to
confirm whether or not there was a bar on the inner under-wing which would of
course indicate an adult.Our Osprey flew south over the pool before
diverting eastwards over the dunes and North Sea
where we finally lost sight of it.We
spotted another birder taking photographs of the Osprey and caught up with him at Druridge Pools.Amongst other birds seen around the pool were
Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe
and CommonSandpiper.A cold wind blew
off the land.

Record image of Osprey courtesy of Samuel Hood

A sea-watch brought us our next wow factor.As I watched over the sea I caught a movement
in the water and some white marking.On
closer inspection we found two cetaceans.We are in no doubt our findings were Minke Whale.Large, but with
small dorsal fins.It’s not uncommon for
Minke Whales to feed as a pair
although in this case we think as one appeared to be smaller it may have been
an adult and calf.This gave me only my
second sighting of Minke Whale.The first being from the back of the night
ferry to Lerwick, Shetland.That one was
seen I believe by only myself and a lady willing to brave the cold on the back
of the ferry that evening, as most people were in the warmth of the dinning
room, lounges or bars.I remember it
very well as it breached fully out of the sea which is unusual for this
species.A report of today’s finding is
going to Martin Kitching.Despite it
being the norm for me to have quiet sea watches today’swere also rewarded with summer plumage Red-throated Diver fairly close to
shore, a single Manx Shearwater, at
least two dark, phase Arctic Skua,
numbers of Common Scoter, Gannets,
Kittiwake and other gulls, Guillemot,
Puffin, Roseate, Arctic and Sandwich
Terns and Red-breastedMergansers.The Red-throated
Diver was the pick of the seabirds for me, divers in summer plumage being
very special.We’d found a nice warm
spot in the dunes for our first watch of the day and I became quite settled so
it wasn’t easy rousing myself for the walk onwards to Druridge Pools.

Somewhere along the way a Stoat ran across our path.The Druridge Pools area had plenty of mud, but not a lot on it if I’m
honest.I have to be honest too and say
that our sighting of what we were convinced was a Wood Sandpiper was nowt of the sort.I tell you though, it did have the markings
that suggested it was.The legs were
hidden in water for sometime and when they did show well there was some
discussion as to colour.Well to cut a
long story short and convince our fellow birders in the hide that there is no stringinghere on Killy’s blog, we confess our first
sighting of Wood Sandpiper in 2015 is still to be had!Confession is good for the soul, or so I’m
told!Apologies from us for any
confusion caused.We did have Ruff, juvenile Redshank and Dunlin to
keep us happy (ish) and a close by fly past of Sparrowhawk with freshly caught prey.

We were soon on our way south towards Cresswell Pool and now
I remember it was just before we reached the road workings that we saw the Stoat.We also found a pair of Stonechat
and then another later at the pond.

As we approached Creswell pond we had distant Greylag Geese in flight and calling
giving me some desire for the coming winter months.Kestrel
was also seen as were two Common
Sandpipers at the north end of the pond.Best of all however was a sighting of a juvenile Cuckoo flying and perching at the back of the dunes.This bird, I assume it was the same one,
later gave us an even better if fleeting sighting as it flew across the field
south of the pond and disappeared behind the farm buildings.

We spent a good bit of time alone in the hide before taking
time out for another watch over the sea and then returning.The sandbank held the flock of Lapwing which had amongst it a few Dunlin, Oystercatcher, just into double figures Black-tailedGodwit, Curlew
and growing numbers of Shelduck.Two Little
Egrets were present and almost now seem to be taken for granted in the
area.They flew to and from the sand
dunes.Wigeon and Teal were
amongst the waterfowl seen.Chiffchaff was heard and Wheatear seen in field at the north end of the pond through the scope

Well after many hours in the field it was time to
leave for home at 6.30pm.Tired but
undaunted and certainly well rewarded by some great sightings, as is always the
case in Druridge Bay.I was very grateful for having received lifts to and from the area which
allowed a well planned walk and extra time in the area.Despite being vehicle- less I reckon we do more than OK on the sightings front
and as I’ve indicated before, I believe being on foot is far more productive in
the long run anyway.Getting to and from
can sometimes be a nightmare however, such is the local public transport
system, or in many cases lack of a system
would be a better description!We were
home by 7.00pm after 10 hours on the move.We had with us a bird list of a nice round 70 species and of course some
nice mammals and insects were on that list too.A great day was had, as per usual.Good to chat to those we met along the way.

About Me

''Use the talents you possess - for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except for the best.”-- Henry Van Dyke.
If you think the common can be as exciting as the rare then this blog may be for you, as it attempts to express my passion for birds and nature. All are part of my daily life and my home patch is all within walking distance of my home, although I often explore wider areas. I ought to be described as a naturalist rather than a birder. I believe that all who take an interest in nature will be well rewarded, but that such rewards ought not to be without reciprocation. My own contribution is made by volunteering, much of which is done in an attempt to help others share in the experience of the natural world. I attempt to reflect my interest in conservation and the fact that I believe the future of a natural world seriously in trouble relies very much relies on an openness of information to all responsible people. Responsible being the key word, and I therefore hope to keep the welfare of wildlife paramount at all times.